AoT: The New Face of Terror
by DexterJackson
Summary: World War II ends with the defeat of Japan, and the appearance of the Titans. No one knows how or why they appeared but they have become humanity's greatest threat and there is no way to stop them. The Titans now number in the millions and only a handful of nations remain. Humanity must rise up against its new enemy or risk extinction forever. An original SnK AU fanfic.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: A Few Too Many**

There is a mythical creature in ancient folklore that is said to be the most long-lived creature on Earth. Some would go as far as to say it's even immortal. It had the size and the fierce appearance of an eagle, a body that resembled a lively rainbow of red and gold, and a cry that epitomized the meaning of a beautiful melody. This creature was called the phoenix.

The phoenix can live on for a thousand years, spending half of its life wandering the earth and the other building its own grave; a nest of cinnamon, spikenard, and myrhh on the branches of an oak tree. As it neared the end of its life, it would fly into its nest and set it on fire, allowing itself to be consumed by the flames.

When the fire dies down, the phoenix would rise up from its own ashes and begin another cycle of its lifespan anew for a thousand years before consuming itself in flame and be rebirthed again. Some say that this mythical creature still flies in regions unknown to this day...

**Prelude: State of the World**

It has been 31 years since humanity's new enemy appeared before them. They don't know who or what they are, they don't even know if they possess even a single iota of intelligence. Whatever they are, humanity colloquially refers to them as "Titans:" Large humanoid-like beings towering from 4m tall to - at most recorded so far -15m.

It is a mystery how they came to be but all that history recorded is that they appeared at the climax of World War II on the islands of Japan. From then, they struck terror on the human nations, striking first the inhabitants of the Asian and European continent. Once bitter enemies of a bloody international war fought side by side, fortresses and front lines that were meant to push against enemy nations became the last line of defense against the Titan terror devastating weapons meant to inflict severe harm to humans became the only thing that stood between survival and death. As valiantly as the Asian and European nations resisted, they fell swiftly. The Titans seized Asia and Europe, eventually migrating to Africa and finally, somehow, tread the oceans to the Americas, Australia, Great Britain, and Ireland. These were the last remnants of humans that remained and despite their preparations, they could only hold them back for so long.

A squad of American soldiers lead a daring raid into Tokyo, Japan in an attempt to gather information on the origins of the Titans and they believed that finding the source will bring them the answers they seek. Humanity's hope lied in the success of this operation. This is their first ambitious mission into the heart of Titan territory and they hoped that the rewards would be well worth the extreme risk.

**1****st**** Raid of Japan ****(Tokyo, Japan, August 13, 1976)**

Tokyo's urban metropolis remained unchanged from the end of World War II. Many buildings were severely damaged or reduced to burning debris piles due to the American bombing campaigns, and also from Titans tearing their way through the city as they chased down whatever humans remained. When there was no one left on the islands, they roamed about passively, either staying in Japan or moving on to another continent to find another community of humans to terrorize and snack on. Just recently, they have become active again and headed towards Tokyo's former city hall, hoping to get a chance to feed on another group of humans in Tokyo. Sounds of gunfire, shattering glass, and cracking concrete reverberated between the buildings as the human soldiers ran out of the former city hall, guns blazing. Several lower class Titans varying from heights of 5m to 7m followed them out of the building, with a dozen more approaching rapidly from adjacent buildings.

"Once you get into the vehicles, head straight to rally point Coxwell, don't stop for anything," the leader of the squad barked out. "Dispersion pattern Delta, execute!"

The soldiers got inside a convoy of 5-door transports, their engines roaring to life. Standard recon operating protocols made sure that if the recon team was detected, they could have a quick way out to safety. This was the solution: retrofitting civilian hatchbacks for military use as they were the only available vehicle fast enough to perform such recon operations on Titans. There was no need for heavy weapons or tank-grade armor: remaining long enough in Titan territory to warrant the use of such things against them only equalled death.

The convoy at first travelled along the main road leading away from the city hall then splitting off onto different roads, each of the three vehicles in the convoy attracting several Titans. Along the road, they see what used to be food stands, entertainment buildings, and what remained of a few manufacturing companies, signs that looked like the previous inhabitants were barely given a chance to pickup and leave. The charred structures, the numerous bones that littered the surface and the tattered fabrics of what used to be clothing were a chilling sight for the soldiers.

The squad captain tapped a button on the vehicle's radio console. "Barnes, Akido, report in."

There was a brief moment of static before the speaker burst out with another man's voice. "Barnes here Cap'n, we're evading lower class Titans at the western main road, ETA to convergence point 4 minutes."

"Akido here," another voice on the radio called out. "Burning rubber with these winding roads but we're managing. With Orido's driving, we can reach the convergence point in 2 minutes."

"Alright, don't stray any farther than you have to, we just need to delay them until the transport's ready, they're underway now."

"Understood, we'll see you in 5 minutes," Akido acknowledged the message and signed off. "We'll see you in a bit Captain," Barnes also acknowledged.

The captain tapped another button on the console to end communications and leaned back, only slightly fazed by the winding path the vehicle was taking to avoid debris on the road.

"Captain," another soldier called out from the backseat. The captain turned around, his demeanor expressing worry. "Captain, we're not going to be here any longer than we have to right?"

The captain gave a reassuring smile. "Don't worry son, we won't. Everyone is relying on us to get this information back to Command, and we'll get it to them before breakfast tomorrow, understood?"

The soldier nodded his head, and then responded confidently "yes sir."

The captain nodded and turned to face the front. This is the first time a mission of this caliber was executed. Of course there were bound to be some setbacks but so far, the mission was proceeding as planned. They managed to obtain several records from the archives of Tokyo and they hoped it would indicate something about their enemy.

"This is Alpha-Echo-One, cab ride's waiting," a voice called out from the radio speaker in the car.

"Damn right," the corporal remarked.

The captain tapped the radio console and replied. "Acknowledged, we're headed to the runway now."

This was only a recon mission, and though they got what they needed, the consequences of coming here showed early in the mission. The captain could only imagine how much worse the consequences would be if it were an escalated assault against them.

'_In the next 50 years, we'd be more effective at combating these sons of bitches,_' he thought bitterly. '_This better be worth it._'

"Sir, we're approaching the convergence point," the driver reported.

The captain's sense of time was distorted by the various noises around him: its slick-grip tires were screeching almost endlessly on the worn pavement, the inline four turbo engine was giving a powerful roar in response to the driver's command, and a dimming sound of pounding from a distance as they finally reached the convergence point.

'_Thought it'd be a few minutes more.' _He looked at the driver of the car. _'What did Tsuchida say he did before enlisting again…?'_

They arrived just as Akido's car pulled over to the right side of the road and signalled his lights. The driver side door opened and Akido's driver got out. Two other soldiers exited the vehicle and stretched their legs. They opened the hatch to break out some rations in the trunk before going back into the car.

"Thank you," the captain acknowledged. He picked up the radio mic to signal the other members of his squad. "Akido, we're pulling up to you now, get in position. Barnes, what's your location?"

There was no immediate response from Barnes, so the captain signalled him again. "Barnes come in, over."

Tsuchida stopped the captain's car behind Akido's and stepped outside to stretch his legs. The soldiers in the back seat lay back, taking the opportunity of brief respite to relax.

"Barnes, stop messing around," the captain said over the radio sternly.

"Must be all the debris interfering with the radio, captain," a soldier remarked from the back seat.

"It better be the debris," the captain replied. "If it's not, I'm going to leave-"

"Captain!" a static-ridden voice shouted from the radio. "We got a-"

The sound of crunching metal riddled through the headset and the voice was suddenly cut off.

Soon after, the sound of tires screeching and the slamming of an engine rev limiter echoed out not too far away, followed by the sound of erratic gunfire. The captain looked in horror to see a 6m Titan clinging onto the roof of the car, the bottom half of a man's body protruding from its mouth. Blood and chunks of flesh were spat out of the Titan's mouth as it chewed up the body. The way he was dressed and equipped, the mangled corpse looked hauntingly familiar. It was Barnes.

"Holy shit!" the second soldier in the captain's backseat yelled out.

The soldiers in both cars dismounted and readied their weapons. Their palms were sweating uncharacteristically which made it difficult for them to steady their aim.

"No! We need to go, now!" the captain yelled. He couldn't risk attracting more Titans to their position. Tsuchida and Orido wasted no time in getting the cars underway again, and the soldiers, dismayed at what they are witnessing, got back into the cars. They had no choice but to leave Barnes' team behind.

"We can't shake him!" the driver of Barnes' car called out on the radio. "Shoot the fucking thing off!"

As much as the captain wanted to help them, he knew that if he did, he would be putting the rest of his squad at risk. It was only a single Titan on the car but they were short on time, and the captain knew that if they stopped now, there is a chance that they will all die from the Titans.

"No! The last thing we need is to have more men die for this mission! I'm sorry, you need to manage on your own!" the captain put the radio mic down and hit the side panel of his door in despair. _'Goddamnit!'_

"We need to stop and deal with this sir!" the worried soldier urged.

"You know I can't do that Corporal!"

"Captain what the fuck! We don't leave our men behind! Not to those… those fuckers out there!"

The captain already knew that their fates were sealed when that Titan climbed onto their roof. He was not about to seal theirs trying to change the fate of doomed soldiers.

"And what do you want me to do about it Corporal?" the captain said. "You want us to face those fuckers out there too?!"

"Just do something!"

The captain sighed. _'The least I could do is put them out of their misery.'_

He didn't want to risk the mission, but he didn't want to be responsible for a cruel death, especially for those under his command, to the Titans.

The captain tapped the radio console and began to give orders.

"Tsuchida, Orido, find us a position further ahead then put us in a barricade position. The rest of you, when I give the word drop whatever explosives you have along the road, don't arm them."

Reports of acknowledgement were received from the radio and the soldiers in the car.

"Now!" the captain signalled.

The car stopped in a defensive position. The soldiers dropped whatever explosives they had out the window on the ground below them, the captain saving one grenade.

Barnes' now shredded transport was approximately 30 meters behind and closing, still driving erratically trying to shake the Titan off the roof. Only Barnes's left leg was visible from its mouth now.

"I'm sorry about this," the captain mumbled to himself.

"Tsuchida, Orido, go!" he yelled. He pulled the pin on the grenade and dropped it along with the other explosives on the ground. The two remaining transports zipped away to a safe distance as they watch what happened next behind them.

Barnes' transport crossed the line of explosives and the grenade detonated, causing a chain reaction among the other destructive devices, spawning a huge fireball and a small shockwave which shattered the glass of the surrounding buildings and blew debris in various directions.

The corporal stared in shock. "Captain…"

The car went up in flames; whoever was inside surely did not survive. The Titan, shocked from the explosion and the debris which scarred its face, was thrown off from the car and against a building several feet away, cracking the concrete facing of the structure.

"Captain… what, wh-"

"You did what you had to," Tsuchida said. He continued driving the car behind Akido's, headed to rendezvous with their transport out of Tokyo.

"No, we could've saved them! For fuck's sake captain-"

The captain noted he was the only one who didn't throw out any explosives. His vest pouches were still full.

"Don't make this harder for him that it already is Corporal!" the other soldier intervened. "Sarge Barnes was like a younger brother to him, he doesn't need to hear it from you."

He looked at the captain through the rearview mirror and saw it in his face. His eyes met the captain's, looking intently at the corporal's face. It was only a moment before the corporal realized the captain wasn't actually staring back at him.

"… Captain, I'm sorry. We couldn't have-"

"No, no," he quietly replied. "I knew that this could happen. We all knew the risks." He glanced at the passenger side mirror, the fire from the car raging and Titans behind it giving chase.

"I'm sorry that this didn't turn out as well as I thought it would." But as composed as the captain was, he was on the verge of breaking down.

The two soldiers in the back seat looked at him bitterly. Tsuchida glanced at him. The only sound that could be heard was from the hum of the car's engine and the dirt road the two cars were now travelling on, rubber tires crunching the earth that remained untouched for over 30 years. There was a distant sound of aircraft propellers running up ahead. It was no help for the silence that reinforced the bitter mood. The captain regained his composure.

"Many have died, and many will continue to do so. For our own survival. We're not done here."

"And we're coming back for more of this shit? Are these commanders insane?!" the other soldier questioned.

"It's a necessity for survival," the captain answered. He and the two soldiers looked down in despair. "If we don't do this, then who will? Who's going to stand up against these assholes? If we don't, then we might as well be dead."

Silence remained in the vehicle cabin. The transports pulled up to a long stretch of wide road which led out of Tokyo's downtown and into a former airbase. A C-130 transport aircraft had its propellers running and slowly rolled down the runway away from the cars, towards the end. It slowly opened its rear cargo door to let the convoy in.

"Sir, we already lost Major Miller, Sergeant Reyes and his team inserting to this location," Tsuchida pointed out. "Exactly how many more 'sacrifices' are we making to finally end these bastards?"

It was clear to Tsuchida that morale was impacted but he wanted to be sure. The captain sighed and looked at the transport that was going to bring the squad out of Tokyo and back to the safety of their base. There were slots for four vehicles in the cargo hold, and only two of the four hatchbacks deployed to the captain's squad were coming back intact. 21 men deployed for what was supposed to be an 'in and out' recon mission, 21 men formerly in command of Major Ian Miller, even he could not survive the Titan onslaught despite his experience. Of the 21 men, only 9 survived the return trip to safety.

"A few more. A few too many."


	2. Chapter 001

**Chapter One**

**How It All Began: A History Lesson**

"The remaining survivor nations of humanity were safe from the initial Titan onslaught. They are the remains of the American continent nations, Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, and they represented the known survivor communities that exist on Earth. The Titans appeared shortly after the climax of World War II in August 1945, soon after the two prototype nuclear bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"Six days after the bombings, the Japanese government surrendered to the Allies on the condition that their people were allowed to be evacuated to either the Chinese or American mainland 'due to economic and infrastructure failure'. The Allies suspected that the Japanese did not disclose the true reasons for such conditions, but they were allowed evacuation to the Chinese mainland. Several days after the bombing, the Allies discovered why the Japanese demanded such conditions: the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were crowded with large humanoids, Titans, and were spreading outward rapidly.

"The Japanese committed what little they had of their Imperial Armed Forces left towards repelling the Titans. A large number of the force, however, did not survive, and only a handful of Titans were killed outside the bombing fallout zone before they were overrun. They began evacuation despite setbacks from the Allies, going as far as to bypass blockades using whatever cruisers they had left to oppose the Allied navy. Once the scope of the situation was finally understood by the Allies, severe casualties have already been inflicted.

"Titans had already taken to the waters as well, headed for the mainland of China, their strange characteristics allowing them to somewhat traverse and survive extended periods underwater. They decided to evacuate as much of the population as possible, using any working ships from the ports and having Allied carriers and ships load as many people as possible. 24% of Japan's total population were onboard Allied ships headed to America, another 7% evacuated from small fishing boats and civilian vessels. The rest of the population were left behind to fend for themselves, their fates sealed when the President of the United States ordered Japan and the Pacific Theatre to be abandoned. He also gave an order to bombard overrun areas of Japan using the remaining prototype nuclear bombs in an effort to kill the Titans. Unfortunately somehow, this had the effect of almost doubling the amount of Titans that appeared.

"Japan fell in less than a year, with no survivors reported from scouting flights, and much of Eastern Asia was in disarray. Many islands and nations had no way of combating such a threat and as a result, their inhabitants perished or fled to the seas if they were lucky. The nations in Middle Asia tried to create a wall which would join each other in order to form the Great Middle Eastern Wall. Unfortunately, the Titan advance was too quick and not enough construction materials could be produced in a short term.

"The rapid advance of the Titans from the east devastated the continents of Asia and Europe. Africa was the last continent to fall to the Titans' advance from Asia, valiantly resisting but ultimately falling or were forced into hiding and ceding territory to them. The Americas, the British Islands, Australia and New Zealand had sufficient time to prepare adequate defenses and set up walls to barricade their cities and assets, keeping their losses at bay. The remaining nations formed their own sovereignties as we know it: the Americas forming the American Coalition, the British Islands forming the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand forming the Oceanic Commonwealth Though they are separate government entities, they remained united under the common cause of survival. They represent humanity's last hope against the Titans.

"The fear of the Titans sparked a rapid evolution of technology with the remaining nations, focused on developing offensive and defensive capabilities that would give them the edge over the Titans' numbers and resiliency. Mistakes from operations were studied and improved upon, electronics evolved, efficient weapons and sturdy defense measures were conceived, new fields of study were introduced, many technologies that were considered a dream of the future were suddenly on the streets, all of which advanced us into the peak of the post-modern age in the span of 50 years.

"Our cities started to run on natural electricity and nuclear fusion, a direct counterpart of nuclear fission. It was understood that nuclear fission played a part of the appearance of the Titans, but it was not directly responsible for it. Realizing this, nuclear physics was further researched which allowed the conception of nuclear fusion reactors and related technology. The spark of technological evolution kept us fed and provided respite during a dark time, made sure that we used their now-limited resources efficiently and defend ourselves appropriately. It kept morale high with the thinking that the marvels of technological growth developed could be the solution to overcoming the Titans, and at the time, we weren't wrong.

"The American Coalition launched a string of deployments from an offshore base, also famously known as Operation Fairway, in 1976 up until 1980 in an attempt to determine the origins of the Titans and to prove that our technological growth was capable of opposing them. We were successful, to an extent. The answers obtained from raiding archives and old records only provided more questions about the Titans and what the Japanese at the time were up to. To this day, reports are still being deciphered and analyzed by the Coalition Intelligence Agency.

"This information came with a high price: several battalions of humanity's best soldiers dealt considerable blows to the Titans but were lost in the process, casualties numbering thousands of troops. The operation, though successful in its purpose, was considered a failure because of its high casualty rating. Morale was the most affected, causing surviving nations to scrap any other idea of expeditionary operations. However, the American Coalition has reconsidered launching another operation, this time learning from the reports and mistakes of Operation Fairway."

**(Fort Carson, Colorado, September 7, 1999)**

The room filled with a white light as the projector was shut off and the powerpoint slides were replaced by a blank white board.

"That's it for the introduction presentation," the instructor declared as he stood from his chair behind the podium. "Many of these subjects will be covered in more detail as Basic Knowledge progresses through the semester. Don't forget, CSM Kuriyama will be instructing your Combat phase column from now on. Dismissed."

The class members put away their books and tablets into their packs and stood up, filing out one by one through the door to the hallway. The instructor also secured his tablet and shut the screen off.

He waited for the last student to leave the room. "So what'd you think of that?"

"Heh," a man in the corner of the room huffed. He put his legs down from the chair and stood up. "I'm impressed. You made a boring introductory class sound… even more boring."

The instructor sighed and crossed his arms. "I worked on that for a week and all you can say is it's even more boring than the previous one."

"It's just a lot of information to take in at once, even if they are just introductory topics." The man shuffled down the shallow incline of stairs next to the wall.

"I put pictures and videos from actual missions! I had to dig deep for those videos from Fairway. I thought it'd be worth it," the instructor noted despairingly. He disconnected the interface connectors and slid his tablet into his shoulder bag, sitting on the tabletop.

The other man chuckled. "Those were definitely a good addition, it gives the viewer a visual aid, though the walls of detailed text could be… smaller."

The instructor nodded. "Okay, what else could it improve on?"

He smiled slightly. "For starters, it could be easier on the eyes. And make sure to keep it concise."

**Recall – Akira Okazaki ****(Denver, Colorado, September 7, 1999)**

A middle aged man overlooked the city of Denver through his apartment window, the reflection of the sun causing him to squint slightly. A large concrete wall about 30m tall dominated the perimeter of the city, the only way to prevent the Titans from entering. It is one of the many cities all over the American continents that have been expanded and walled up to preserve as much of the population and culture as possible from being lost to the Titans. Though the sun shone bright, it was only for a brief moment before the cloudy day blocked the sunlight from coming through. The shadows of the clouds cast on the city skyline showed the glimmering lights from each of the buildings.

The lights reminded Akira Okazaki of events that transpired long ago, almost 55 years in fact, when he was but a small child only 3 years old. He remembers it clearly, how his family was the last to leave from Takanabe in the former Miyazaki Prefecture. He remembers being taken by a US Marine and being brought onboard an American battleship, looking back to see the Titans overrun the port and consuming those who remained. He remembers seeing one of the Titans pick up a young woman, firmly grasping her torso as she screamed at it and squirmed as a futile attempt to bargain for her life. The final thing he witnessed before she was consumed was the futile attempts of others fighting the Titan and the woman's horrified expression on her face.

Back on that day, he swore to make the Titans pay for the destruction they brought down on the humans. He swore to avenge the woman's life on that day, the woman who was none other than his mother.

Near the window stood a table and four chairs, a vase of radiant chrysanthemums and a steaming coffee mug furnishing the table. He reached for the coffee mug and took a sip of the black liquid, the bitterness reinforced with a sweet tangent of sugar. He bit his lower lip and walked away from the window, away from the living room of his apartment which he stood for a quick breather from his reading in the study, where he was headed now.

He stepped inside his study and set down the warm mug on his desk beside his book and an opened letter. A gray tablet sat nearly upright horizontally on a metal platform with a digital interface panel, supported by a frame which lined the bottom half of the tablet and the socket on the metal platform on which the tablet fit snug, drawing power from the metal platform via its electronic port. The tablet displayed a 3D logo of the military's Recon Corps branch as a screen saver, the logo consisting of a marksman rifle and a sword intersecting diagonally in front of a pair of wings emblazoned on a shield. A speaker on the platform chimed twice and an amber button blinked on the panel. The tablet then displayed a camera view of the hall outside his apartment, a female dressed in a long brown overcoat and gray jeans waiting at his front door. Akira tapped the panel. "Come."

A door whizzed distantly from the hallway, opening long enough to let the guest come inside then whizzed shut. Another sound of mechanical whirring suddenly resounded from under the desk and Akira cringed in pain. '_Are you fucking kidding me?_'

He inspected his mechanical right leg, which replaced his natural lower leg, and hit it several times. He sighed.

'_Yup, it's broken for sure now. Leg can't feel my hand slapping it.'_

Footsteps echoed outside the study, growing closer with each step until it reached the open doorway, a female appearing. She looked at Akira and smiled. Akira looked up and nodded.

"Captain Carter," Akira greeted her. "Just in time, my prosthetic seems to have malfunctioned. Again."

She chuckled and kneeled down next to the desk, near where the prosthetic leg laid at rest. She set down a tool kit on the floor and picked out a scanner, spending a few moments calibrating it.

"Good morning Sergeant," she replied. "Don't worry about it, I'll get it fixed. Again."

"You don't have to be so formal with me, _Captain_," Akira replied. "I'm not in the Corps. That and you outrank me already."

Carter started her scans on the leg, waving the device up and down the prosthetic.

"Force of habit, Akira," she paused slightly before adding in his name at the end.

The scanner beeped, its screen displaying a diagram of the prosthetic and zooming in closer, highlighting a section near the main electronics controllers.

"I found the problem. I didn't reinforce the electrical bonding on the third electroneural pathway properly, which caused a small breakdown in one of the dual receiver nodes, cutting off-"

"In English please," Akira interjected and waved his hand, motioning her to stop explaining.

"I didn't patch you up properly."

Akira always found it amusing whenever she unintentionally technobabbles despite telling her not to when conversing with him. Carter produced another tool from her tool kit and began to take apart a small panel on the knee of the prosthetic.

"Were you always such a pedantic Carter?"

She looked at Akira and grinned. "Ever since I graduated middle school."

"Hmm," he muffled. Her fiddling with the prosthetic caused it to make weird electrical noises before he felt a slight shock sting his upper leg nerves. It was nothing for Akira, but it was unexpected, and he reacted by cringing and clearing his throat. _'Definitely felt that.'_

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"No, no," he replied. "Just clearing my throat. Ahem."

Carter continued her work, using the tool to recalibrate the microscopic digital boards on the panel before placing it back inside the opening in its socket.

"You know Akira, I never got a chance to… properly thank you," she said as she reached for a microspanner and microsolder in her toolkit.

Akira had given her some extra food last week when Carter was over to perform her monthly maintenance on his prosthetic, volunteering to do it herself regularly instead of having one of her techs to come and do it. He also cooked too much the other night and thought to share it with her so it doesn't go bad. He also thought that might not be the reason she's thanking him for.

"It was nothing, I think I _slightly_ overestimated the portion of macaroni-"

"No," she interrupted. "Not for that. For what you did for me twenty years ago."

He was right. Akira's expression turned blank. He looked at the pictures tacked onto a taupe bulletin board hanging over his desk, its color contrasting the cream walls. One picture was an old one of his father and mother long before World War II looking happy, another picture was of his father, his wife and his son back in 1976, right after his graduation ceremony and induction into the Recon Corps at Fort Carson. They posed at the front entrance of Fort Carson, Akira donning formal military attire with his father and wife in regular civilian clothing and his son, the two year old being held in his mother's arms. Another picture beside it showed him, Carter, and nineteen others who composed his assigned squad, posing in front of a C-130 transport plane right before their deployment for Operation Fairway in 1978.

He stared at the picture briefly before finally locking his eyes on a picture below with his squad's fireteam element posing in front of a woodland-sprayed UH-60 Blackhawk transport, fully kitted out for their final sortie together.

'_It's been 20 years since that mission…'_

"Oh, for that," he said. "I was just doing my duty as a soldier of humanity."

He remembered. They were evacuating from Nagasaki, part of the final mission of Operation Fairway, and his squad was part of the three elements to evacuate alive out of their company. There was a Titan making way towards Carter, already dealing with another Titan ahead of her. He pushed her out of the way, and they barely cleared the Titan after it dove in an attempt to catch the human unsuspectingly. Akira helped her up but the Titan that dove still had energy to continue on, biting off Akira's right leg from the knee down when he was off his guard. The next thing he remembers was shooting its eyes and mouth before he fainted from shock, barely remembering that it was Corporal Carter and another Private First Class who carried him back to their transport. The next thing he remembered was waking up in one of the operating rooms at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C., shocked that his leg was missing and feeling very unworthy of his survival from the Nagasaki mission.

"I know, but I wanted to thank you nonetheless. In a way, you helped me to realize that I wasn't meant to be on the front lines being a liability; instead, I do better backstage researching solutions for our dilemmas. Or better yet, solutions to prevent them. And here it is, I helped develop prototype prosthetics and by the time we had fully working models, I gave one of the first ones to you, for your leg, as a token of my appreciation. And I think this is one of our most advanced prosthetics that you're using, a major step up from the one I first gave you ten years ago."

She closed the panel, finishing her work and the prosthetic leg whirred back to life. Akira's instinct told him to wiggle the prosthetic toes and wave his foot around, and the prosthetic followed his instructions smoothly, the big toes wiggling and the foot waving around with a smooth mechanical hum. He smiled slightly. Carter got up from under the desk.

"55 years and everything's been going shit for me for so long," Akira answered her. "But, you've helped me see that there's still some good in this world. I should be the one thanking you."

He got up from his chair, opened his arms and embraced Carter platonically, happy that she managed to somehow give him his life back with a prosthetic leg, the one thing that brought him out of his suicidal tendencies. He was satisfied with the fact that by saving her, he managed to let one of humanity's greatest scientific minds live on to create such marvels of technology, allowing those who lost their limbs to regain them artificially. Also quite possibly, advancing the field of robotics into a new generation with her team's research. He was happy because he realized in a world ridden with despair, there is still hope.

The tablet on his desk played a notification sound and displayed on the bottom right corner "NEW MESSAGE (1 Unread, 1 Urgent)." Glancing at the screen, he let go of Carter and sat on his chair, tapping the notification to open up the email application. Akira had hoped it was from his acquaintance who had sold him a book he was searching for, finally getting the opportunity to meet with him to finalize his purchase and obtain it. The email application filled the tablet's screen, displaying the new message that Akira received. It was not the one he was expecting.

"It's from the Corps Chief of Staff," Akira said.

"General Shinseki?" Carter asked excitedly, looking over Akira's shoulder as he continued to read the message. "What did he say?"

Akira's momentary feeling of relief disappeared quickly as it came. The Recon Corps Chief of Staff wanted him to come to Fort Carson to "talk" amongst other things.

"Oh. That probably means he asked for me too," Carter said as she finished reading the message.

"No…" he rebutted. "I think I know why he called for me."

'_Damn it,'_ he thought. He didn't leave the Recon Corps on the best of terms, especially with then-Colonel Shinseki who was his CO for Operation Fairway. He voiced very loudly that he doesn't want to come back should he recover from his "ordeal." Akira was given an honourable discharge nonetheless, but left before fully explaining what really happened at Nagasaki. The Walter Reed psychologists didn't recommend it to avoid a full mental breakdown but Shinseki probably felt it okay to continue his debriefing now that he's been given some time.

"Are you alright?" Carter interrupted his train of thought. Akira looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, just thinking about the last time I talked to him."

With another goodwill gesture, Carter reached out her hand to him. "Come on, I'll go with you."

Akira couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something about Carter that reminded him of his mother. Somewhat eerie, because he didn't get the chance to know her that well. He shut off the tablet screen and got up from the chair, the repaired leg now functioning like a charm.


	3. Chapter 002

**Chapter Two**

Many of the older townships and holdings in North America that weren't included within the wall constructions were promptly abandoned and as a result, many unused buildings and materials lay in places all over the continent. When the final walls in the Eastern region were completed in 1965, the American Coalition Forces shifted their focus on technology research, information reconnaissance, and the reacquisition of resources for humanity's use.

There were many blunders and casualties at first but as time went on and battles were fought, plans were developed to ensure that each mission would provide the highest return at the lowest casualty cost. Each mission provided a steady amount of materials that could be recycled for use and as a result, had a part in helping to stabilize the disarrayed economy.

After the relative success of Operation Fairway, the ACF Sciences Division invested resources into developing technology that could effectively reduce the human-to-Titan casualty ratio by half. Some who transferred into the Sciences Division after Fairway, including Captain Amanda Carter, provided their experience and newfound expertise into upgrading the existing arsenal and drawing up new prototype equipment. After 10 years, developments by the Sciences Division were starting to look promising.

**Dawn of an Era – Melissa Palmer ****(Springfield, Colorado, September 9, 1999)**

The sun shone brightly in the blue sky, devoid of any cloudy obstructions, a rare sight for many people to enjoy as they go about their day busy trying to pay their bills, keep food on the table, and live to see another day. Melissa Palmer's squad from the 7th Recon Corps Division had the opportunity to enjoy such a moment, as they assigned to field test experimental technology developed by the Sciences Division. They were assigned to the Springfield Testing Grounds south of Fort Carson, a supposedly controlled open-ground environment where Sciences does performance testing on every prototype weapon and equipment known to exist in the Coalition arsenal.

The site was relatively secure, with three other squads from the 7th's Bravo Company on the perimeter keeping lookout and a Defense Corps Company on standby from Fort Carson as QRF. If there were any Titans that showed up, they would know about it; if things get too out of hand, the perimeter squads would fall in and be extracted by the 1st Defense Corps QRF.

Melissa rested her arm from shielding her face from the bright sunlight and focused her vision to the southern treeline where she could see a billowing cloud of dust trailing towards her. A Titan was making its way towards her and her squadmate who is also participating in the test.

"Bravo 2-4 Actual, this is Bravo 2-2," a male voice announced himself through her comms. "Two Titans coming from the southeast, both Class A's, over."

"Acknowledged Bravo 2-2, we're looking at the dust trail now, over" she replied and readied her weapon. She punched in some commands on a small computer interface mounted on her left wrist. The machine responded with an acknowledgement beep and blinked "APS READY" on the small screen.

The flat back-mounted gas tank part of the experimental equipment hissed and blew some gas out of the relief valve at the bottom. Next to her, Corporal Beasley activated his equipment, also hissing and blowing out some gas. As good as he was trying to hide it, Melissa could see he was trying to prevent his legs from shaking uncontrollably.

"Corporal, you're sure about this?" she asked him.

He looked at her, the surprise reaction plastered over his face. "Ma'am?"

"I won't think any less of you if you aren't."

He feigned his obliviousness until she pointed out "your legs are shaking."

He looked down then looked back towards Melissa and nodded. "It's a bit cold… ma'am."

She chuckled. "It's September in the middle of a sunny day."

There was a pause before took a deep breath, shrugged and confidently nodded.

"I can do it ma'am."

The cloud of dust began to close and loud footsteps can be heard in the distance.

"You better be able to, cause they're here."

From the treeline, they could see two 6m Titans emerging, followed by a trail of dust from their thundering footsteps. They quickened their pace to reach their human snacks before they could try to escape.

"Bravo 2-4, stand by to engage Class A targets," she declared to her squad through the radio before starting her charge towards the Titans. A sound of humming could be heard coming from her boots, modified to be compatible with the new equipment and equipped with small jet nozzles.

Corporal Beasley followed closely behind her, their wrist computers continuously blinking the state of the experimental equipment before displaying various readouts. The distance between them and the Titans closed significantly and were almost at point blank range for their weapons.

"Now!" Melissa yelled out.

At her command, she and Beasley entered a single command on their wrist computers and the status notification of the equipment changed to ACTIVE. They both jumped down onto the ground with both feet and sprang up into the air. The boot nozzles and the tank pack nozzle blasted out streams of hot air, propelling Melissa and Beasley over the Titans as they overshot their human targets.

They both aim their assault rifles at the napes of the decelerating Titans and fire steady bursts of 7.62mm rounds, effectively penetrating deep into the skin and perforating the nape. As they landed, the nozzles ejected more streams of air to soften the landing. One of the Titans collapsed as a result of the sustained fire on its nape but one of them was still active, turning to face the duo of soldiers who managed to avoid them in the air.

"I got him Corporal, go back to the squad!" Melissa ordered him to return to an abandoned building where the squad and a small Sciences team were garrisoned.

She began her charge towards the Titan, standing there in confusion, and jumped above it with the help of the new equipment. She used her momentum to manipulate herself in a position to shoot the nape. She fired streams of 7.62mm as she sailed through the air and caused the Titan to collapse just as she landed. The Titan's body hit the ground with a loud thud and steam rose out from the gaping hole made by Melissa's rifle.

She walked up to the Class A carcass, grinning at how easy it was to kill a small Titan alone using the new Jet-Assisted Propulsion System. Killing even a Class A alone is considered no small feat amongst humanity's soldiers; only a small amount of soldiers have racked several solo kills, and there are even fewer who live today to tell the story.

"Bravo 2-4 Actual, Bravo 2-3, two Class As and a Class B coming from the south," another man from the 3rd Squad reported on the radio.

"Acknowledged."

She pulled out the almost empty 7.62mm magazine from the bullpup rifle's magazine well, tucked it inside a vest pocket on her chest rig, and pulled out a fresh magazine from another pocket.

"Bravo 2-4 standing by," the squad's second-in-command's voice rang through to inform Melissa they were ready if she needed help.

Melissa firmly seated the new magazine into the well and checked on the APS's status. There was a substantial amount of gas left and the indication still blinked an emerald ACTIVE text. The ground started to rumble slightly, and the sound of big footsteps grew louder. She looked up and started sprinting towards the incoming Titans.

A pair of 5m Titans charged towards the center of the training grounds, trailed closely by a slower 9m which had a bulked torso, toned arms, and long skinny legs. Melissa sprung herself close to a tree and stepped off the trunk of the tree to build up momentum.

The 5m pair transitioned into a dive forward, attempting to catch the flying soldier but failed, leaving their napes in a vulnerable position for Melissa to unload hellfire. The slower 9m lagged behind, giving time for Melissa to set herself up in a position to strike above it.

Once the 9m finally closed in, Melissa once again used a tree to build up momentum. She could hear her squad rushing out from their cover and an unfamiliar voice yelling out orders. She rose steadily into the air until she came to a dead stop in front of the 9m's face.

'_Fuck, I fucked up,'_ she scolded herself for being too overconfident.

The 9m opened its wide mouth and leaned its head closer Melissa.

'_Shit, shit, shit, fuck. Not like this.'_

Gravity finally took a hold of her but it came too late; by the time she gets down a couple of feet, she'll land on the 9m's tongue. As a final act, she fired her rifle down its throat, attempting to get the 9m to back down.

Through the noise of gunfire, she didn't hear the sound of another soldier using the APS to successfully jump up and over the Titan. The unknown soldier used the same method Melissa used to build up her momentum but somehow, reached farther than she could and managed to manipulate herself more smoothly while maneuvering into position to kill the 9m.

Once she was at the apex of her jump, she fired on the Titan with the full force of the 30 round magazine, successfully incapacitating it.

'_Pretty sure I didn't do that,'_ she noted. The 9m groaned and suddenly snapped its mouth shut, its teeth barely clearing Melissa's rifle. The flash hider was sheared off, leaving jagged edges at the end of the barrel.

She watched while falling back as the Titan slumped over to her right and collapsed. A thick plume of steam rose from its neck. Other soldiers from her squad started to exclaim about the other soldier's feat, singlehandedly maneuvering over a Class B and killing it.

"Thanks for that," Melissa called out to the soldier.

The unknown turned to face Melissa, revealing a woman with an auburn bob-cut, some of the tips shaded in pink. She noted on her shoulder patch three chevrons, three rockers, and in between, a laurel surrounding the Defense Corps insignia. It was the representation of the Command Sergeant Major rank, an uncommon sight to be seen amongst the ACF's enlisted.

'_Should've known it'd be her. Damn. She is as good as everyone says.'_

"… ma'am," Melissa added to the end of her sentence immediately.

The CSM nodded her head and started back to the building. She placed her left hand on Melissa's shoulder as she passed her and paused.

"You did great," she met Melissa's face with her gaze. "Carry on."

A chill travelled down Melissa's back, meeting the CSM's comments by bowing her head slightly. She didn't know what to say to her except a very quiet "thank you" under her breath.

The CSM chuckled to herself and continued on towards the building.

"Major Reisz, this is Bravo-2-Sciences," she called on her radio for Bravo Company's commander.

"APS field testing is successful, what are our orders?"

As she carried on her conversation with the Company commander, another soldier approached her from the same direction the Class B entered the training grounds.

"I was watching you from where we had the observation post set up," he began, his strides bringing him to arm's length of Melissa. "Pretty ballsy of you to send Beasles out of the pit."

"You're still using that lame-ass nickname for him?" she retorted in kind to his comment.

"I didn't come up with it, you did."

"Whatever. What'dya think of my acrobatics though?"

He shrugged his shoulder. "Could've done better. CSM Kuriyama definitely stole the show from you by killing that Class B."

Melissa looked back at the CSM. It was noted by many how women of descent from an Asian country had an exceptional ability to retain their youthfulness. For her age, she looked like she could be in her late 20s. CSM Kuriyama was a veteran of Operation Fairway and teaches advanced combat tactics for the Defense Corps at Fort Lee, Virginia.

The ACF Sciences Division called on her expertise to test out their latest development: a propulsive maneuvering system that allows a human combatant to utilize three planes of movement instead of two planes in conventional warfare. Her ability to adapt her perspective of the battlefield is one of her exceptional assets.

"She said I did great then walked away."

"Hm," her fellow soldier smiled. "Don't take it personally Lisa. That's actually a compliment from her, and it's a rare gesture."

She faced him and raised an eyebrow. "And how could you possibly know that?"

He looked down at her feet then back towards her eyes. "I told you, my dad talked to a lot of people during his time with the Corps."

"This is Major Reisz," their radio speakers blared out. "Pack it up Bravo Company, we're going back to Fort Carson. Reisz out."

Melissa shut off the APS on the wrist computer and slung the assault rifle behind her back. The pair then picked up a crate of equipment and placed it on a flat dolly. In the distance, they could hear the sound of UH-60 Blackhawks starting up their rotors for take-off.

"So what's for dinner tonight Okazaki?" she asked, walking alongside the dolly while he was pushing it. She could see in his eyes that he was slightly terrified of almost losing her to a Titan. If it wasn't for Kuriyama, she'd really be dead. Or worse, live through an extremely severe injury. He hid his terror very well but she knew him well enough to know he was concealing it.

"My dad makes a mad macaroni salad," he replied intellectually.

"Hmm, is that finally an invitation to see your dad?"

"Maybe," he responded quizzically.

She noted he wasn't his usual witty self like before.

'_Maybe just for today.'_

"How about before we meet your dad, we… unwind," her voice's suggestive tone lightened the mood further, which was enough to push Okazaki back to his regular self.

"Now you're being ridiculous," Okazaki responded bluntly.

"Oh," she looked down at the ground and frowned.

"We can't just do it before dinner, we have to wait until he leaves the house."

She smirked then looked him in the eye. He smiled slightly at her then looked towards the Blackhawks that were taking them back home to Fort Carson.

She stretched her arms out and expressed a loud sigh of relief.

"Aside from that close call, I can see this day ending very well."


	4. Chapter 003

**Downtime - Ken Okazaki ****(Denver, Colorado, September 10, 1999)**

Having spent the previous two months on the 7th Division Bravo Company working with Coalition Sciences in various experiments, Ken Okazaki finally had the opportunity to return home for some downtime before his next deployment. It was a good experience for him to glean further knowledge about his interests, especially the study of what makes a good weapon and the application of a weapon for Titan neutralization.

It was taxing work however, the latest Assisted Propulsion System applying considerable physical fatigue to its users. In order for APS to be fully integrated into a regular soldier loadout, the current curriculum for schools and soldier training regimes would have to be revised to place an emphasis on considerable strength, high agility, and enhanced endurance.

Their latest deployment was the last before the Company was rotated out with Delta Company for some R&R. Once they got back to Fort Carson, Ken, Melissa, and a few of their squadmates set out for some of the respectable bars available in the area for a night of drinking. Ken and Melissa ended their night off with a trip to the Okazaki apartment, where Ken's father also resided, and Melissa stayed for the night.

It was a good thing that apartment rooms had some standard measures for privacy such as soundproofing and door locks.

"Good morning buddy," a drowsily-sounding voice of a woman murmured next to his ear. He turned to face his friend, her head on a pillow next to the one Ken's head was lying on and the blanket barely covering the rest of her body underneath. It didn't take him long to figure out what happened last night after noting how provocatively Melissa was dressed, or rather lacking in dress, but she didn't really seem to mind what happened. In fact, she was smiling at him.

"Hey," he smiled in reply.

"Did you like my... 'surprise' last night?"

He chuckled.

"About time you decided to sleep with me huh?"

She pulled herself upright, the blanket sliding down and now uncovering her bare back, with her fair brunette hair sliding down halfway. Even with bedhead, it looked just as good as Ken saw it last night during their escapade.

"Don't read too much into it, testing that new propulsion shit is stressful."

"Well you're no fun. What happened to that lively spirited kid I spent training with and saw again last night?"

"I think you had too much to drink," she said, tapping her right index finger to her temple twice.

He smirked at her before getting up himself and walking to the closet at the end of the small bedroom.

"I think we should get dressed before my dad finds out what happened."

He left his room after he finished dressing into a tank top and a pair of grey sweats and made his way to the apartment's kitchen, expecting his father seated at the table with a fresh brew of coffee and a pad tablet for his reading. Strangely enough, it was much quieter than he expected.

"Dad?" he called out, walking into the moderately sized room containing the kitchen and dining area. He quickly checked the small refrigerator, noting it was recently stocked with a balance of meat, vegetables, fruits, and dairy food stuffs. On the bottom shelf, the sports drinks and water bottles were restocked. It looks only a few items were removed recently.

"Must've left somewhere," muttering to himself.

Ken checked his dad's bedroom before going back into his own.

"It's alright, he's not home."

Once she confirmed herself that his dad wasn't home, she took a shower while Ken prepared breakfast. They ate like they always did whenever they eat together given the chance and talk about recent events: the new technology being tested, how Kuriyama saved Melissa and the fact that she served with Akira Okazaki, which led to the topic of Ken's boyhood.

"Really? Chef Ken huh?" Melissa commented as Ken was telling a story about his time in senior school before registering for the Recon Corps training school.

"Yes ma'am," he replied happily. "I even made Ration 47-C taste like Harry's ravioli special just a few blocks from here."

"You're joking. 47-C had the shittiest pasta, even if you cook it properly."

"But I got it to taste like actual pasta, properly cooked! Like my dad always tells me, 'it always comes down to the preparation.' What applies to deployments also applies to my cooking."

It was a rare opportunity for both of them; they were always eating pre-made rations, which were standard issue across the entire Coalition corps. The civilians had the privilege of eating freshly prepared meals they create themselves. While rations were just as hearty and nutritious, they lacked "soul", as the two would describe often to their fellow soldiers.

There was a short pause before he added. "or that might've been my mom..."

He looked down on his plate of almost finished eggs and bacon, briefly entering into a state of deep thought when bringing up the subject of his mother.

Taking note of the situation, Melissa cleared her throat.

"You've gotten the gene for cooking nonetheless, tastes better than what any of the cafeterias could've done to a simple eggs and bacon."

He looked up and smiled at her. "Heh, thanks. That's saying a lot."

She grinned as she got up. "Probably too much. You're oogling."

"Oh, uh..."

His face flushed in red, and decided to take their plates to the kitchen in a pathetic attempt to hide his embarrassing reaction. He could hear her grabbing her off-duty pack and her overcoat as he set the plates down next to the sink full of used pans and utensils.

He met her at the door to see her off.

"Nice of you to keep me company, thank you."

She nodded.

"Thanks again for letting me over buddy," she said before giving her friend a peck on the cheek. She tapped a button on the console next to the door that whizzed open and stepped out of the apartment.

"No, thank you," he said drunkenly to the closed door. He laughed softly before heading back into his room to clean up last night's mess.

**Callout - Angeline Mira ****(Denver, Colorado, September 10, 1999)**

Angeline Mira was experiencing an unusual rush preparing herself for her name to get called on the stage, a bead of sweat beginning to form at the hairline behind her neck. There was no real reason for her to be anxious, it was her promotion ceremony after all. She didn't like being the center of attention of a large crowd is all. Mira, along with a few select officers and several enlisted soldiers, were recommended for promotion by the division commander for today's ceremonies.

One of the officers alongside Angeline was called up, someone named Alan Salazar. He was receiving a promotion from 2nd Lieutenant to Captain for his service in the Transport Corps as an Air Support and Patrol pilot, or ASAP for short.

Once he officially received his promotion to Captain and saluted the division commander, he faced the applauding crowd for a few seconds before returning to his seat. Angeline could hear him sigh under his breath and utter an expletive in relief. She grinned slightly.

"Captain Angeline Mira," the speaker boomed.

She erased her grin and tugged slightly on her dress uniform before standing up and walking to the space near the podium, where the division commander would pin her new golden oak leaf on her uniform's lapel.

"Captain Angeline Giselle Mira, the Coalition promotes you to the rank of O-4 Major for your service in the Coalition Armed Forces by order of division commander Colonel Gerald Simmons and Recon Corps commandant Lieutenant General Eric Shinseki. Let your acts of bravery and courage aid humanity in the fight for survival."

The division commander who pinned her new rank on her uniform stepped back and saluted her, raising his right hand perpendicular to his right temple.

"Always fight. Semper fortis."

Mira stepped back once in a sudden motion and followed with her own military salute to her division commander.

"Semper fortis sir!"

She turned to face the crowd and remained stoic as they applauded her promotion, which was the second-last one of the day. Near the back of the building by the door, she saw a familiar figure with his arms crossed nodding at her.

_'Ah so he came.'_

She returned to her seat and sighed a breath of relief.

"It's tough facing a crowd like that," Salazar whispered in her ear.

"One thing to face your soldiers, it's another facing the people themselves."

"Heh, amen to that ma'am," he formed a fist with his left hand and held it between their seats. Angeline returned the fist bump with her right hand and leaned closer to his left ear.

"If you were in my unit, I'd have you scrubbing every toilet on the base with a toothbrush for fraternizing with a _superior_ officer, _during_ an official ceremony."

He gulped and let out a hushed "yes ma'am."

She gave him a mischievous smirk then looked forward at her old friend waiting for her at the back of the room. Once the ceremony ended, she split off from the group of officers and followed the flow of the crowd headed towards the entrance doors.

"Akira, you silly old man," she called out to him.

"Hey, I'm not that old," he chuckled and moved to greet Angeline with a hearty hug.

"About time you made Major. Semper fortis ma'am!" he saluted.

"Stop it, you're making me feel elderly," she said, covering her mouth with her right hand and waving her left hand frantically. They walked out of the hall and into a throughway leading out of Denver's city center.

"Well you did pass me in rank about, what, sixteen years ago?"

"I think it was more like seventeen," Angeline corrected jokingly.

"Ah right," he nodded and laughed softly.

"I see your leg's working fine now," she nodded at Akira's right leg.

"Yeah," he began, raising up his right leg and shaking it mildly. "Amanda's making great strides with her position at Coalition Sciences, especially with my prosthetic leg. Feels just like the real thing."

He swung himself around, raising his right leg before it made contact with the concrete wall. He grazed it enough to take a substantial layer off and turn it into a coarse collection of debris and dust.

"Almost," he finished.

"Oops. Let's go before someone notices," she said.

They walked out of the corridor and out into the open. There was a small pause of silence before Akira changed the topic of conversation to a more serious one.

"I get the feeling you didn't invite me to your promotion just for old time's sake."

Her cheerful expression was erased and settled into an intellectual one.

"No, no I didn't. Actually I wanted to ask if you've considered what General Shinseki's told you."

He scoffed before replying casually.

"I've already said no so many times in the past, what makes him think that I'll say yes this time? Actually, what makes _you_ think I'd say yes?"

"Because it'll be a personal favor to a good friend?" she answered innocently.

"Nice try but you're gonna have to do better than that. Major."

She quickened her pace and grabbed Akira's left arm. She dragged him into an empty alley, intent on settling this conversation once and for all.

"Look I know that you and the general didn't see each other off in the best of circumstances, but he's willing to set aside those differences."

"What's the point of even having me there? He already has Amanda, Chiaki, Kurt, even Minami's going to be there."

"Because we need _you_. We need the experience of your entire team for this mission to work."

"I wrote everything that happened in my report, isn't that good enough?"

Despite having submitted his report shortly before being contacted by the general, Angeline would've thought that it would confirm his teammates' reports. When she read it alongside the other reports however, it only threw more questions into the mix.

"I've read your team's reports myself and all of them lined up, except for yours. I haven't told Shinseki about this yet. I don't know what the hell happened out there and I won't pretend to, but there was something odd about the whole thing."

Akira crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow slightly.

"What, you're going to tell me I chopped my leg off myself?"

Angeline shook her head.

"What I do know, and also confirmed with reports, was that a Titan ate off your leg while you saved Amanda from it. Amanda, Chiaki, and Kurt then incapacitated the Titan and helped you back to the transport. Your squad was positioned strategically to stop an incoming attack from the southern flank just as everything went to shit. What I don't know, is why your squad split so far off from the main attack force in the first place and remained out of contact for nearly five minutes."

"That mission was a mess, we weren't expecting heavy resistance-"

"That mission _was_ a mess, but you split off before you even met a single Titan." Angeline countered before Akira had a chance to finish his sentence.

Akira stared directly at Angeline's eyes. She could see there was a hint of anger in his eyes, telling her to just drop the matter. She was persistent however, intent on having him reveal what he knows for the sake of the mission, and communicated it with her own deadly stare. It was a trait that many of her friends and colleagues appreciated, knowing that they can rely on her to get whatever was necessary done.

"It wasn't our decision to make," he muttered.

It was also a trait that Akira cursed silently at the moment because it was enough to break his resolve.

"You do know something don't you?"

Akira stood his ground, directing his gaze away from her eyes and to the stairwell behind her.

"You realize that by withholding vital information that can jeopardize the safety of humanity, the general has every right to hand you over to the Defense Corps for obstruction."

"You're threatening me now?"

"I would never, especially to a friend."

He placed his hands in his jacket pockets and started walking slowly down the alleyway with Angeline in tow. It took some time for him to come up with a reply, already halfway down the alley. He chuckled softly.

"Would've been a mistake if they passed you up for becoming Major."

She glanced at him and tried to read his face. His vision was fixed at the end of the alley but she could tell that he would let himself play along, even if it was just for this once. This was confirmed with a sigh that left his mouth soon after.

"When did he want everyone to meet?"

Angeline smirked and directed her vision forward.

"Actually we could meet him later today."

He stopped walking, wondering if he really did want to go through with this. Angeline saw no reason for him not to other than what they just talked about, it's not like he's busy with other duties for the day. She walked in front and turned to face him.

"Hmm. I guess later today is okay."

It was a bit surprising to find out that he was concealing something about his mission for such a long time. Considering the trauma he must've endured, it would be natural that he would repress the memories so he wouldn't have to think about it again. That's what Angeline was hoping to hear when she brought up General Shinseki's proposal for Akira to return and his off-putting report. Now realizing that something did happen on that mission, what if there's more to everything about him?

"Very well. I'll pick you up around 5."

He nodded at her.

"Alright. Thanks again for coming, I'll see you later."

She started walking back towards where they entered the alleyway.

"Wait," he called out.

She stopped and turned her head towards Akira. "Hm?"

"Since you 'forced' me to come along, at least buy me some lunch. That talk of old missions made me hungry."

The cheerful expression from when they were walking out of the ceremony hall returned to her face once again. Angeline was pretty hungry herself so she saw no reason why not to.

"Fine, I'm picking the place though."

He chuckled.

"No complaints here."

They walked out of the alleyway and to the Market District, where many of the shops and warehouses were centralized in the city. She decided to continue trusting him despite what he vaguely revealed about his final mission.

_'Maybe it was just that one mission. Maybe this person is still the same one that I first met at the training barracks in '74.'_

She doesn't plan on telling General Shinseki anything about what she stumbled on either. Instead, she'll trust that her friend, the one she's known since their years of training and serving together, would come forward on his own accord.


	5. Chapter 004

**Chapter Four**

**The Rifleman's Sword - Minami Kuriyama ****(Osaka, Japan, March 6, 1980)**

The Coalition's Operation Fairway task force, Task Force Nova, has entered their fourth year of operations in the Japanese theatre. It was some time before the nuclear fallout on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the operation's primary objectives, dropped to tolerable levels. Since the establishment of their base of operations at Wake Island, the Coalition has launched hundreds of reconnaissance missions and several dozen recovery missions on the Japanese islands, aimed mainly at major city centers and military bases. After a prolonged snowstorm during the winter, Task Force Nova resumed operations with search and recover missions bound to Osaka and Kobe. The consecutive missions will be part of an assessment of the Kansai region and the neighboring Chugoku region.

It was PFC Minami Kuriyama's second mission to the Japanese islands and had an idea of what to expect based on her previous mission to Wakayama months before; clear out the area, ensure any Titans encountered in the immediate area are lured to and dispatched by primary combat squads, sweep buildings thoroughly as possible for intel, document obtained intel, then repeat as necessary.

As predicted, the concentration of Titans became heavier as Task Force November inched closer to ground zero. After hard learned lessons in earlier mission sorties, a platoon of soldiers plus auxiliary support became a sufficient force for preliminary recon missions, with the force of a full company following up on successive deployments. General Edward Meyer opted to reinforce the mission complement with additional platoons in preparation for the resistance they will encounter. The ever changing environment in the Japanese theatre required the Coalition to adapt and expected the unexpected. The last thing they expected however, was for the Titans to adapt to them.

To distract the Titans from the CH-53 Super Stallions that carried the recon force, a flight of AH-6 Little Birds would fly ahead and draw their attention with low flying maneuvers and 20mm autocannon strafing runs. This would draw the Titans' attention to the agile strike craft and chase it down, leaving the Super Stallions open to unload their cargo and retreat. The only problem this time was the Titans didn't take the bait. They continued on towards the low altitude transports, vulnerable with the hatches open and the ropes deployed.

Three Super Stallions were able to deploy their squads before they were in any immediate danger. The other two transports at the west end of Kobe were still maneuvering in position to deploy their squads. By the time the AH-6 pilots relayed the information to the pilots, it was too late. The fourth transport deployed its ropes to deposit Sierra-Zero-Four onto a street leading into the west side of Kobe, where three 7m Class A Titans moved to greet them.

Unexpectedly, one of the Class A's climbed onto the roof of an abandoned house and jumped towards the transport. The pilot was forced to juke the craft right, tumbling many of the squad members off balance and severely injuring those who fell onto the street. The jumping Class A grazed the massive rotor blades and had its left arm cut off before landing flat into another abandoned house. The juke maneuver lowered the transport's altitude enough for another Class A to smash its powerful arm into the cockpit, killing the flight crew and compromising its flight ability.

Unable to control its descent, the massive transport rolled over on its side and crash landed onto the street. Fortunately enough the rotors perforated the Titan's head before they were pulverized by the asphalt. However it would not save the surviving squad members from the two remaining Class A's that greeted them.

Sierra-Zero-Five, Kuriyama's squad, was luckier as two of the squad's four fireteams managed to deploy before a Class B smashed its head on the Super Stallion's tail rotor and sent it flying out of control.

She laid on the ground, feeling a massive ache all over her body. She was halfway down when the rope was cut off by one of the squad members before its tail rotor was destroyed. The act probably saved her at the expense of falling hard a few feet off the ground.

"Marco, Marrice, get your heavies on that window and fire!" the lieutenant commanding Fireteam Three screamed out, pointing at a two storey house next to where they landed.

"Everyone else, get to cover and unload on that Class B!"

She was dazed from the fall, her vision blurry and all of the sounds she was hearing were magnified by five. There was intense gunfire and shouting that rang all around her, an officer barking commands to the right of her, and the crackling of concrete to her distant left. She closed her eyes, thinking of how painful her death was going to be when she heard a set of booming footsteps coming behind her.

"Kuriyama!"

She felt the touch of flesh on her neck, followed by the sound of a distant crash and explosion.

_'This is it. All I ever did in the end...'_

But it was not the raggedy-textured feeling she was expecting. It was another human's hand. She felt someone checking for a pulse before the fleshy feeling was cupped around the back of her neck.

"Hey!" a female shouted to her, the word echoing deafeningly in her head.

Kuriyama opened her eyes to find a dark skinned woman screaming at her face, snapping her out of her line of thought. It was Sergeant Major Gale Sparrow, her fireteam's XO.

"Hey! You alright? Can you fight?"

Kuriyama moaned.

"It hurts all over."

The woman laughed then helped her sit upright.

"Good! Come on, we're flanking around that 9m while Fireteam Three distracts it."

After being helped up by Sparrow, Kuriyama felt the energy rush back into her consciousness and managed to suppress the pain. She reached around her back, looking for the good luck heirloom she always brought with her. It was still mounted on the back of her vest.

_'There it is. Really is good luck.'_

Once she confirmed it was there, she picked up her AR-210 battle rifle lying on the ground and regrouped with the remaining members of Fireteam Four. From Kuriyama's fireteam, only the XO, the radioman, and two riflemen made it down from the transport.

"Sir, who else made it off?" Kuriyama asked Sparrow.

She pointed at the officer that was directing the second fireteam, 2nd Lieutenant Kendrick Bazemore.

"It's just us and Fireteam Three."

_'Oh fuck. Captain Nichols, Sergeant Munroe. Jim...'_

"Hey, snap out of it Private!" Sparrow said.

She shook her head, still feeling slightly nauseous from her fall. Half of her fellow squadmates were potentially dead and until they checked on the transport's crash site, there was no way of telling for sure.

_'No. We'll make it out alive. All of us.'_

"Lieutenant just ordered us to flank around and take out that Class B. Let's make this quick people."

The five-man fireteam moved around one of the houses that were still standing in the area. The area was strewn with debris from former buildings reduced to jagged foundations, a result of the American bombing campaign against Japan during World War II. They moved towards an intact house just a ways from Fireteam Three's position, in front of the Titan. It's attention was directed at Bazemore's fireteam and started lumbering towards them.

"Kuriyama, Gutierrez, get on the roof. When you get a solution, take it."

"Yes ma'am," Kuriyama and the other rifleman answered.

They climbed up one of the ruined walls and onto the tiled roof. Before the two could ready their rifles, the radioman called out from below.

"Sergeant Sparrow! Multiple contacts coming in from the west!"

The exclamation was enough to draw the attention of the Class B Titan, noticing Kuriyama and Gutierrez on the roof first.

"Signal the Enteprise and tell them to send QRF!"

The Titan, now meters away from the intact house, raised up its left arm and swooped down, intent on sweeping the duo off the roof in a single strike.

"Get down!" Kuriyama yelled at Gutierrez.

Kuriyama ducked below the incline of the roof, barely avoiding the edge and falling over two stories. After falling _three_ stories from a helicopter, it was something she wasn't keen on doing twice in a row. She looked up in time to witness the Titan's left palm swat an unlucky Gutierrez off the roof and to the ground behind the house, leaving a trail of blood in front of her.

"Shit."

The Titan then swung its right arm around to smash her, barely managing to evade it with a roll. The force of impact knocked her back considerably and threw her rifle off the roof, leaving her no other weapons to effectively fight with. The Titan still had its fist stuck on where it tried to splatter Kuriyama.

Her squadmates were repositioning to engage the new Class A contacts coming out of the treeline from the west, moving to a standalone wall and using the debris around it to support their weapons.

_'Fuck, my rifle's on the ground and my sidearm's no good. What am I- wait...'_

She realized that she had a weapon, but it's extremely risky to use, especially in their current situation: her good luck heirloom that was mounted on her back. It was given to her by her parents as a gesture of good luck. Also "so that God will be watching you."

_'Would it really count for something right now?'_

She rose up and reached for her good luck heirloom. She pulled out the handle from the sheath and held it in front of her. Her family's black-handled wakizashi, passed down from and maintained since the 19th century.

The Titan continued to pull out its fist to no avail while Fireteam Three continued drawing its attention once again. SGM Sparrow and the rest of the fireteam were still repositioning. Its fist was almost free and its vision was directed away from Kuriyama.

_'There's no time. Let's go!'_

She wielded the wakizashi in her left hand and started sprinting, intending to run up the Titan's arm and reach its nape so she can slice it out herself. The potential deaths of Captain Derrek Nichols, Sergeant Claude Munroe, Corporal Jim Butler, and now Private Gutierrez is motivating her to kill the Titan itself.

_'No way I'm letting you get away with all of this.'_

Her peripheral vision became faded and she felt her eyes throbbing, as if they were going to pop out from the intense mental pressure building inside her.

"Kuriyama! 'The fuck are you doing?!"

She heard the sergeant screaming distantly behind her. Kuriyama paid no attention to it and continued sprinting, finally reaching the base of the Titan's fist. She stepped on just as it was freed from the roof. From her current perspective, it was a wasted effort.

_'Fuck. Fuck.'_

She felt the sensation of vertigo overcome her and started panting heavily. Her vision was strained and she was about to black out. Before her consciousness faded into darkness completely, she watched herself sprint forward up the Titan's arm and wield the wakizashi with expert precision. She heard one thing come out from her mouth just as darkness overtook her.

"Die."

Kuriyama opened her eyes, facing the grey cloudy sky above her while she lied on the ground. An overwhelming sensation of disappointment and failure rushed into her head.

_'Was that it? Was that all I could do? How pathetic.'_

It was a bit of a fall from the roof of the house, still shorter than the distance she was dropped from the transport, but-

_'Hurts like fucking hell.'_

It was both a good and bad sign.

_'Why aren't I dead? Why can I still feel my back throbbing out?'_

All she can recall is the death of Private Gutierrez right in front of her and getting knocked off the roof herself by the Class B Titan. She thought for sure she would be a goner. Several sets of footsteps echoed behind her, as well as the sounds of soldiers... cheering for her? "Goddamn did you actually _do that?_" and "whoa, that was friggin' awesome!" were the two phrases she could hear clearly out of the rest.

_'Great. There's no need to rub it in my face. I'm suffering enough here.'_

She was going to give them a piece of her mind when they got over but when they did, she realized they weren't laughing at her. They really were cheering her on. They helped her sit up and leaned her against the cement wall.

"Hey, Kuriyama."

She recognized the voice as Sergeant Sparrow's and looked up. This time, she didn't sound as concerned when she first approached her earlier. Sparrow stood over her, joined shortly by Lieutenant Bazemore.

"I'm sorry ma'am," Kuriyama replied.

"What're you saying sorry for?" Bazemore asked.

"I... I failed."

She looked down on the ground, constantly replaying her supposed final moments as some sort of punishment for failure. She didn't notice Sparrow's demeanor change to a surprised one.

"What the hell are you talking about Private?"

"The Titan, I didn't get it. I almost died from it."

Sparrow and Bazemore looked at each other in confusion before she replied, with an answer she wasn't expecting to hear.

"More like it died because of you. It's dead now."

_'What?'_

There was no way she could've killed the Titan. It was so clear in front of her: she climbed onto the roof of the house and saw Gutierrez get swatted off before she got done in herself.

"What? How?"

"You sure you're alright?" Bazemore asked her.

"I guess. Just tell me again, how did I kill it?"

He cleared his throat before starting.

"You pulled off some hot shit by running up _to_ the Titan's nape and you started your slice 'n dice with that sword of yours."

_'No...'_

She wanted to confirm her disbelief, reaching for her good luck heirloom on her back. Once she got a hold of it, she'll know that they're just messing with her and that her heirloom once again saved her from the jaws of death. Twice. There was a problem with that logic though.

_'Huh? Where is it?'_

She sat up and patted her back, concerned that she lost her heirloom somewhere after the fall. There was no way that she would carelessly let it slip out, especially during the middle of combat.

_'Wait...'_

Noting what Bazemore said about killing the Titan with the sword, she looked up at the Class B carcass. Through the soft streams of smoke, she could make out a long sharp object sticking out of the nape. Once she focused her vision on the object, she widened her eyes and gasped. It was Kuriyama's black handled wakizashi, her family's good luck heirloom.

_'That's not- wha... Why don't I remember any of this?'_

She remembers clearly, once its left arm swept the room, it brought its right arm down onto the roof. She looked up to confirm that it did happen. A part of the wall above her was dented in and had small chunks of tile that were barely clinging on to the ruined roof. The force of that impact was what knocked her to the ground now. Right...?

"Bullshit, you just put it there after you guys killed it," she tried to deny.

"Me? Bullshitting?" the stern lieutenant barked at her.

"I should be the one shitting on you if you pull something stupid like that again."

She stared at the wakizashi, hoping that it will induce some sort of flashback as to what really happened. Unfortunately, something so predictable doesn't work as easily in reality.

"So I really did kill it?"

"Yeah, you got really lucky Kuriyama. Now stop rubbing it in and grab your gear. We need to move out."

The soldiers prepared to move north to their crashed Super Stallion in hopes of recovering anyone who survived that ordeal. Kuriyama climbed up onto the carcass to retrieve her wakizashi. She stared at it intently. If she did kill it, it did not register at all in her memory banks.

"Holy shit."


End file.
